Carmen López "If there was an off button I would have pressed it after 10 seconds. It doesn't compensate you"
Last minute The eruption, live
Let's see if you can understand the gibberish: the La Palma volcano is "mature" and its end seems "closer and closer." But, at the same time, that "does not mean that the eruption is ending", because in recent days new mouths have been opened, lava is flowing as if it were water and general activity is experiencing an obvious upturn. That is to say: "This it is neither over, nor is it on the rise ”, says Vicente Soler, one of the leading volcanologists of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) in this eruptive episode. That ends: "We all confuse reality a bit with desire: we want it to end as quickly as possible, but that is not going to happen anymore."
Translation: the volcano is in the Canary Islands, but anyone would say that it is Galician.
Because as soon as it seems that it descends the ladder and decreases in its activity - two weeks ago it seemed to come to a stop - as it gives the impression of climbing it and getting angry again, without daring at once to show signs of definitive decline.
Since last weekend the activity has been reactivated: the volcano is releasing levels of sulfur dioxide as in its peak moments (30,000 tons these days compared to 10,000 15 days ago), yesterday the most powerful earthquake of the Count up to now (of magnitude five), the ground has swelled again next to the cone of the volcano and at least two new mouths have been opened, through which the lava flows at a speed of one meter per second.
What seemed like a more or less tended decline (on Monday 15, hardly any material came out for several hours through the main mouth of the volcano) has, in short, become a new episode of activity that comes to tire the long-suffering inhabitants. from the northwest slope of the island, but even to the volcanologists themselves who observe and control the phenomenon since its inception.
"We are already very tired, at the foot of the canyon since mid-September, that is the truth: the people and us," admits by telephone Nemesio Pérez, coordinator of Involcan, the Canarian institute for observing the phenomenon.
The scientists who each morning are part of the committee that advises the authorities on the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan (Pevolca) are divided into two perspectives, which today will clash again at the meeting held every morning in Santa Cruz de la Palma , and where since the beginning of the crisis, in mid-September, there has been more dissent than those transferred to public opinion.
Some defend the feedback theory: that the eruption stopped between two and three weeks ago, and its current return, responds to the fact that new magma reservoirs are struggling to rise to the surface, and that this is left to be sane for a while. .
Others are in favor of readjustment: they point more to a certain decline in the episode, and link the rebound in seismicity with which the land under the island is repositioning itself after 72 days of eruption that have also left more lava material and ash on the surface than any other volcanic chapter recorded at the site in the last 500 years.
Both views, in any case, include that the current moment is one of "maturity" of the phenomenon.
"And after maturity the end must come, but it is not known when, obviously," says Vicente Soler, from the CSIC.
Soler has been situated «always», he maintains, in the theory of feedback, that he would leave the end of the human drama lived on La Palma further afield. Their arguments: “12 days ago there were many deep earthquakes, two days later there were them at 10-12 kilometers, and in the last few days two new mouths have appeared that have decapitated the main outlet of the volcano. The seismicity does not subside and if the earthquakes continue, there may be another feedback. The output of sulfur dioxide is still high, the deformation of the soil is still there, and to see the end it must have disappeared ... Everything indicates that the end is not near.
"It is true that the tremor is still low," adds Soler.
“But I think that this has to do with the lava coming out in a very fluid way ... They are all symptoms of maturity.
This means that the episode progresses towards the end of the process, but to say that it is going to decline would be reckless.
It is already taken for granted, on the other hand, that this eruption will exceed the longest recorded in the annals: Tehuya, 84 days.
In the long gaze that science requires, Soler today sees something that seems newsworthy: «Since 1585, each eruptive episode had been shorter than the previous one: Tehuya lasted 84 days, while Teneguía's 1971 lasted only 25. However, this one beats them all.
That could mean something.
Nemesio Pérez, from Involcan, has so far positioned himself more in the coordinates of readjustment, "but always with great prudence."
«I do not think that what we are seeing necessarily means feedback.
We cannot assess the last 48 hours, we have to look at the general picture.
And if we look at it in perspective, there are signs of weakening and that is the general trend.
Land inflation in the furthest points from the volcano has long since dropped.
The current emission of lava is compatible with what I say.
Seismicity?
When the eruption ends the seismicity will continue, because the earth must readjust ... ».
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
Science and Health
science
The Palm
La Palma volcano
Cumbre Vieja La Palma, an island divided in two by the volcano: "The press are like vultures, we are up to here to hear about the same thing"
Eruption on La PalmaAll Saints' Day on La Palma: "The flowers are gone, the greenhouses are washed away by lava"
Eruption in La PalmaVolcanic fatigue takes its toll: "They sleep badly, they eat badly ... they see no way out"
See links of interest
The Palm
Last News
What
2022 business calendar
Christmas Lottery 2021
Search Christmas lottery number
Check Christmas Lottery
Covid passport
Holidays 2021
Loteria del Niño 2022
Spain - Georgia, live
Osasuna - Elche
Eibar - Girona